7 Wackiest Chinese Inventions

When an American can invent a mobile phone charger that runs on water, will the Chinese remain behind? Check out some funky 'innovations'...

1. Self-made Aircraft

Li Jingchun, a 58-year-old farmer, looks on as his family members work on his self-made aircraft on top of his house in Xiahe village located in Shenyang. The 5m long, 1.5m wide plane, mostly made of recycled iron plates, cost the aircraft enthusiast and his family two years and more than 40,000 yuan ($6,349).

2. Giant Bicycle

Zhang Yali, 49, tests a giant bicycle designed and made by him and his friends outside a rented warehouse in Jilin. The 3.2-metre-high and 5.5-metre-long three-seated giant bicycle, weighing over one tonne, cost Zhang more over 20,000 yuan ($3,156).

3. Self-made Aircraft

Ding Shilu, an automobile mechanic, carries out a test-flight for his self-made aircraft at a frozen reservoir in Shenyang. The aircraft which weights about 130 kg (287 lbs) and made of recycled materials including three motorbike engines and plastic cloth, cost about 2600 yuan ($395).

4. Robot-operated Rickshaw

Farmer Wu Yulu drives his rickshaw pulled by a his self-made walking robot near his home in a village at the outskirts of Beijing. This robot is the latest and largest development of hobby inventor Wu, who started to build robots in 1986, made of wire, metal, screws and nails found in rubbish sites.

5. Submarine

Chinese shipbuilders stand on a submarine designed by a farmer Li Yuming (not pictured) on the Yangtse River in Wuhan. The submarine, 9.8 meters long, two meters wide, and four meters high, was built by some ten shipbuilders in seven months.

6. Robot-operated Cart

Farmer Wu Yulu, 48, rides in a cart pulled by his walking robot near his home in a village at the outskirts of Beijing. Hobby inventor Wu, who started to build robots in 1986, has invented 47 robots with different functions like jump, paint, drink, pull cart, massage, and help cooking.

7. Homemade Submarine

Tao Xiangli gets out of his homemade submarine after operating it in a lake on the outskirts of Beijing. Amateur inventor Tao, 34, made a fully functional submarine, which has a periscope, depth control tanks, electric motors, manometer, and two propellers, from old oil barrels and tools which he bought at a second-hand market. He took 2 years to invent and test the submarine which costs 30,000 yuan ($4,385).